Watch: Harris Has Weird Low-Energy Response to Trump’s Migrant Theory

Violent, anti-immigrant rhetoric elevated by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance has led to 33 bomb threats shutting down schools and government buildings in Springfield, Ohio. But on Tuesday, the Democratic presidential nominee chose to not make a big fuss out of the local ordeal, telling reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists that she was upset to find out that elementary-age children had to be evacuated during school photo day.

“It’s a crying shame,” Harris said. “I mean, my heart breaks for this community.”

“You know, there were children, elementary school children, who, it was school photo day, you remember what that’s like?” Harris said, turning toward the audience. “Going to school on picture day, who are dressed up in their best, got all ready, knew what they were going to wear the night before, and had to be evacuated. Children!”

Harris then lamented the thoughtless rhetoric that has contributed to the volatile environment, but failed to name names for the perpetrators behind it. Instead, she explained how, as a prosecutor, she learned how her words “had meaning” and that the selection of her words could impact whether someone “was free or in prison.”

“A whole community put in fear,” Harris said.

So far, the epicenter of the conspiracy theory—Springfield—has received at least 33 bomb threats since the top of the conservative ticket started pushing the idea that Haitian immigrants were eating their neighbors’ pets.

Springfield shut down two of its elementary schools Monday, while two local colleges switched to all virtual classes and activities. The city also canceled its annual CultureFest due to safety concerns.

The city saw even more closures last week. Springfield evacuated two elementary schools and closed a middle school on Friday after receiving information from the Springfield Police Division. The day before, several other schools and a significant portion of Springfield’s government facilities—including City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Ohio License Bureau, the Springfield Academy of Excellence, and Fulton Elementary School—were shut down due to bomb threats.

On Sunday, Vance effectively admitted that the anti-immigration conspiracy was bogus. Meanwhile, multiple city officials and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine have categorically denied the conspiracy.

J.D. Vance’s recent comments regarding Elon Musk’s potential role in a second Trump administration are ringing alarm bells for some.

In the past few weeks, Trump has confirmed that he plans to create a government efficiency task force headed by Musk to reform government spending. Musk has expressed enthusiasm about the role, tweeting, “I can’t wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go.”

The purpose of the proposed task force has been an object of skepticism from budget experts. And some critics have cited Musk’s stewardship of X/Twitter—namely his decision to gut the social media company’s staff after purchasing it—as a cause for concern if the billionaire were to wield influence over vital government programs.

Last week, Vance appeared on a podcast where the host asked whether he had spoken to Musk about his “plan” regarding the task force. Vance’s answer about his talks with Musk was vague, but he specifically mentioned the Department of Defense and Social Security.

“I’ve spoken with Elon a little bit about [the task force],” Vance said, adding that the Trump campaign envisions establishing “an organization with very smart people from the private sector and a few smart people from government” that decides, “‘How are we going to fix all of the broken inefficiencies?’

“And the thing that’s complicated about this, man, is it’s going to look much different in, say, the Department of Defense versus Social Security,” he continued.

After the clip was republished by a liberal group on X, many users bristled at the implication that the world’s wealthiest man could help make key policy decisions regarding Social Security.

“Who elected Elon to decide ANYTHING?! Look what he did to Twitter & its diligent employees—at a WHIM,” posted one user. Another wrote, “Elon Musk is an arrogant Billionaire. He has no understanding or compassion for those who depend on Social Security. Everyone on Social Security should be very concerned if Musk and Trump are making decisions.”

Republicans have long publicly promised to not touch Social Security, despite creating plans that would imperil the national benefits program.

J.D. Vance can’t have it both ways.

The Republican vice presidential nominee has spent considerable time touting violent rhetoric: He has elevated a dangerous conspiracy theory that Haitian migrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, and baselessly insisted that liberal leaders are the ones inciting attempted assassinations against Donald Trump. (Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, was a registered Republican. Ryan Wesley Routh, who attempted to shoot Trump at one of his golf courses on Sunday, voted for Trump in 2016 and supported a Nikki Haley-Vivek Ramaswamy Republican ticket.)

But while speaking before a crowd in Sparta, Michigan, on Tuesday, Vance tried to frame himself as someone above the noise, blaming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the divisive attacks.

“We of course want to be as careful as possible and make it so we cut out the ridiculous rhetoric that I think has put a giant target on Donald Trump’s back,” Vance said. “All of us, whether we’re Republicans, Democrats, or independents, all of us can do a better job at showing respect at trying to debate our differences without going into personal attacks.

“Don’t lecture Donald Trump about softening his rhetoric after two people tried to kill him,” he continued, speaking directly to the media. “It’s ridiculous. Tell Kamala Harris. Tell Joe Biden, tell all of her surrogates who are saying things like ‘Donald Trump needs to be eliminated.’ They need to cut that crap out, or somebody’s going to get hurt.”

But just moments later, Vance was back on his usual grind. He likened Harris’s social policies to a “path of slavery,” and even challenged an imaginary assassin to break into the convention center where he was speaking to face off against a crowd of Trump supporters.

“With close to 500 patriots in the state of Michigan in this building right now and outside, I’d like to see an assassin try to come in this room,” Vance said. “They’ve come to the wrong place if you try to walk into this place right now.”

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling out Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

In a long post on X Tuesday, Greene said Johnson is “leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting,” regarding his plan to attach the SAVE Act, which would bar noncitizens from voting, to the government spending bill.

“This is classic bait and switch that will enrage the base, only one month before the election, when they find out they have been tricked and let down again,” Greene wrote. “The only way to make the SAVE Act a law would be to refuse to pass a [continuing resolution] until the Senate agrees to pass the SAVE Act and Biden agrees to sign it into law.”

Johnson announced earlier Tuesday that he would attach the SAVE Act, which is based on faulty data and seeks to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, to a six-month continuing resolution to fund the government. That’s an obvious nonstarter for Democrats.

It’s not surprising that Greene would publicly disagree with Republican leadership, but Greene closed her message by saying, “Speaker Johnson needs to go to the Democrats, who he has worked with the entire time, to get the votes he needs to do what he is already planning to do.”

Greene is known for being one of the most right-wing members of Congress and is not known for working with Democrats or even supporting bipartisan efforts. She is better known for feuding with the opposing party, especially when she insulted Representative Jasmine Crockett’s appearance earlier this year.

While Greene has publicly supported the SAVE Act, it seems that even she is seeing the futility of attaching it to government funding while it has near-total opposition from Democrats. Her post notes that the bill could only pass with a threat to shut down the government, which, according to her, Johnson doesn’t want to happen. Plus, Greene said, the SAVE Act will be passed too late to affect any ballots in the November election, as ballots are already being prepared in several states, especially with early voting.

Johnson faces a tall order in trying to pass a resolution to fund the government, and he needs every vote he can get, particularly with a narrow Republican majority. If even extremists like Greene are saying he needs Democratic support, then the speaker should reevaluate his plan before the government shuts down.

One of the country’s most accurate polls found an impressively slim margin between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris among likely voters in Iowa.

Trump was polling at 47 percent, while Harris was polling at 43 percent among likely Iowa voters, according to the most recent survey published Sunday by the Des Moines Register/Mediacom and conducted by Selzer & Co.

While this poll shows that Trump still maintains the lead in Iowa, its results may actually indicate bad news for the former president, according to CNN’s analyst Harry Enten.

Selzer polls have a history of being uniquely accurate when it comes to Trump, while other polls fail to capture voter preferences.

In 2020, Seltzer’s Iowa survey found that Trump was up by seven points the day before polls opened, while other estimates had Biden in a far more favorable position come Election Day. Trump won by eight points. The same thing happened in 2016: The Selzer poll saw Trump ahead of Hillary Clinton by seven points, and he ended up winning by nine. Trump’s two Iowa wins have been by much bigger margins than the one predicted now between the former president and Harris.

The new Selzer survey shows Trump leading Harris by only four points, with a margin of error of 3.9 points. Not only does this put her in a better position to win than Biden or Clinton, but it also shows a remarkable leap from where Biden was only three months ago. The previous Selzer poll from June had Trump beating Biden by a whopping 18 points.

What’s more, the current Selzer poll confirms the indication from other polls that the presidential race between Harris and Trump is far closer than previous cycles.

Enten also suggested that the close race between Harris and Trump in Iowa could signal a wider shift increasing her favorability in neighboring states such as Wisconsin, which has similar voter demographics. Marquette University Law School’s most recent poll put Harris at 52 percent to Trump’s 48 percent among likely Wisconsin voters.